The senior archaeologists at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) claimed on Friday (19 October) in a significant archaeological discovering that the Mahabharata could be as old as 1500-2000 BCE, against the currently believed 900-1000 BCE era, according to The Economic Times reports.
"Buddha's contemporary was about 550 BCE, which was the Kuru kings ' 23rd gen. When you assign the kings an average of 50 years each, which decreases with regular wars in the later generations, the date of the Mahabharata is around 1750 BCE. According to Mr. Manjul the genetic analysis of Sanauli findings is undergoing, Manjul further Manjul claimed that the ASI team used the survey to ensure its accuracy through various scientific techniques including Xray, CT Scan, 3D scanning, photogram metrics and GPR studies. Since the first Indraprastha excavations in the early 1950s, at least eight excavations have undertaken at places mentioned in the Mahabharata, but no definitive, direct or genetic evidence has been published by the ASI to date to determine exact historical facts.
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| Mahabharata much older than we assume, say ASI Archaeologists - Sanauli Excavations vs Findings of BB Lal All Images are taken from Google |
The statement follows the observations of last year's
Sanauli excavation site, 68 km from Delhi, including the discovery of a
horse-driven "war chariot", a rusted bow and arrow, a burial site and
ochre-colored pottery, battle helmets, spear, torch and hilt antennae sword.
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| Sanauli excavation site, 68 km from Delhi, including the discovery of a horse-driven "war chariot" All Images are taken from Google |
The director of the ASI Institute of Archeology, Sanjay
Manjul, who carried out the Sanauli excavation, addressed these findings on
Friday. Mr. Manjul said the war chariot excavated was the first discovery of a
war chariot and that it was found to be "a horse-pulled one" after
advanced research, taking the site “closer to the culture of Mahabharata”. He said that the Sanauli excavations are a missing link to
the Rigvedic culture and a symbol of continuity of civilization. In Rigveda,
Ramayana, and Mahabharata, chariots are common.
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| Rusted Sword All Images are taken from Google |
Mr. Manjul said his group was revisiting Braj Basi Lal's
discoveries in 1951-52, having performed excavations at Indraprastha and
Hastinapur. Lal had announced that a significant portion of the city had been
destroyed by a heavy flood in the Ganga around 800 BC. He had named the time of painted grey ware (PGW) culture
based on the relics recovered and said this was the earliest famous pottery
linking all the Mahabharata sites including Hastinapur, Mathura, Kurukshetra
and Kampilya.
Braj Basi Lal is an archaeologist from India. From 1968 to 1972, he was the Director General of India's Archeological Survey (ASI)
and has served as Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies,
Shimla. Lal served on various UNESCO committees as well.
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| Braj Basi Lal All Images are taken from Google |
Lal also speculated that the war of Kurukshetra occurred
about 800 BC and claimed that during the time of Nichasku, who was the fifth
ruler after Parikshit, the kingdom was moved from Hastinapur to Kaushambi,
while Udayana, the Buddha's contemporary, was the 19th ruler in the Kuru clan.
Udayana would have ruled around 500 BCE, according to Lal's research, after
which 24 rulers ruled for 15 years each. According to The Economic Times report, Manjul also looked into
the genealogy Kuru kings, starting with Pratipa leading to Dhiritrashtra, Pandu
and Yudhisthir in fifth, sixth, seventh ranks, and completing with 36th King
Kshemaka, preceded by Iramitra.
"Buddha's contemporary was about 550 BCE, which was the Kuru kings ' 23rd gen. When you assign the kings an average of 50 years each, which decreases with regular wars in the later generations, the date of the Mahabharata is around 1750 BCE. According to Mr. Manjul the genetic analysis of Sanauli findings is undergoing, Manjul further Manjul claimed that the ASI team used the survey to ensure its accuracy through various scientific techniques including Xray, CT Scan, 3D scanning, photogram metrics and GPR studies. Since the first Indraprastha excavations in the early 1950s, at least eight excavations have undertaken at places mentioned in the Mahabharata, but no definitive, direct or genetic evidence has been published by the ASI to date to determine exact historical facts.
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| Time: Mahabharata in Artist's Imagination All Images are taken from Google |
The single war chariot that were discovered in Sanauli
excavation site were the first to be discovered on Indian soil before this
extraordinary finding such chariots were only found in ancient and Vedic literatures
or shown in various television serials.
Many used to ridiculed that such a chariot was merely a
fantasy, but the discovery of this war chariot in Sanauli excavation could
prove more akin to the reality of the Mahabharata war. When did the war of Mahabharata actually occur, what do you think...??
Of course it did - if only in your mind.
ReplyDeleteyou may also like this article, "8 most Interesting Facts That Confirm Mahabharata Is The Longest Epic of All Time", 😊
Deletelink is here, https://thetemplescience.blogspot.com/2019/07/why-is-mahabharat-considered-to-be.html
Most of our epics are so old and many were not even written and kept, but transferred though word of mouth, learning-teaching-learning through guru to sishya. Most of the scientific so called inventions were already done by our Indian Rishis.
ReplyDeleteHi J.K.M.Nair,
DeleteYou are absolutely right.
Even the Rig Veda and Purana began to be recorded with the efforts of VyasDeva.
Certainly, it was a daunting and daring attempt to recollect and write the entire Vedas and Puranas that were Spread all over the Aryavarta in Scattered forms. For his great initiatives VedVyasa is also regarded to be the "Gyan Avatara" of Maha Vishnu.
But my personal belief is that the output of technical experiments on our culture, trditions and history is slowly moving to the real truth. Maybe some years later, historians will accept our scriptures as the oldest history ever written in human civilization.
Our everyday-ritual books say we are now, 5000 yrs into kaliyug and according to the epic, Mahabharata war happened 36 yrs bfr kaliyug started....
ReplyDeleteWhy do we always say our history is not recorded, when we actually have the world's lengthiest and most sophisticated books in Hinduism?
Hello,
DeletePolitics has been influencing historical excavations and researches for a long time in India and for this reason the truth is not publicly accepted.
Over time, the colors of politics are changing... Maybe it is too soon to reveal the truth hidden in the womb of the Soil of India.
Mahabharatha is 5000+ years old according to earlier studies conducted in the 1980s and 90s at the sites of Mahabhatatha, under water reasearch in Dwaraka at the coast of Gujarat and as per planetary positions described in Mahabharatha. It's not new findings that Mahabharatha is almost 5000 years plus old. It also known that Lord Krishna left earth 36 years after Mahabharatha. The 5 pandavas were almost 90 years old when the war took place, Krishna was 120 years old when He was struck by an arrow and left for Vaikunda. Bhishma was much older than all of the pandavas and Krishna at the time of the war (atleast 130 to 140 years). The life span of humans in Dwaparayuga was 1000 years and their height was about 10 to 12 feet. Mahabharatha is the history of Hindusthan not a mythology. Everything has been recorded and found out with Lord's grace. I am so proud of being born in Hundusthan. Saint Madhwacharya was re incarnation of Bheemasena and he made one of his disciples dug up at Kurukshetra battlefield and unearthed Bheemasena's mace that he used and the disciple was asked to put it back when the group visited Kurukshetra once. With divine grace, we should be able to find more material evidence to prove the authenticity of Mahabharatha though it has already been proved that Mahabharatha is real.
ReplyDeletehi, Aadhiyan. I am speechless to see your dedication towards Dharma, Itihasa and Sanskriti... Thanks for this inspiring talk. be with us.
DeleteHey Lord krishna i love u
ReplyDelete